


The First Step is The Hardest

by giraffewrites



Series: Slowly but surely, we’ll get there [1]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/F, Friendship, Moving Out, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-15
Updated: 2018-12-15
Packaged: 2019-09-19 13:23:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17002464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/giraffewrites/pseuds/giraffewrites
Summary: A year and a half after her honorary discharge from the military, with the help of Glimmer and Bow, Adora moves out. Although her apartment is ‘plain’, that’s anything but what her life in this complex will be. From the first night, her neighbour ensures that.





	The First Step is The Hardest

**Author's Note:**

> SO THIS SHOW BLEW MY MIND AWAYY??? I LOVE IT SO MUCH??? I knew I had to write something for it, and whilst this series idea was originally for another sapphic pair I love, I couldn’t help but write it for Catradora instead.
> 
> As this is an AU, things have been changed and adapted. Somethings you’ll find out along the way, but what I will tell you (to avoid confusion and make this instalment and the series as a whole make a little more sense) is that Adora is Glimmer’s adopted sister.
> 
> The summary is a work in progress, I’m going to use it for the overall series summary and might change this one, but for now I’ll leave it be.

The sky’s a beautiful mixture of pink and purples as Adora sits in the front of the car. Her feet are up on the dashboard, showcasing her dirty converses. Glimmer’s behind the wheel, one of Bow’s CDs playing from the stereo.

Nighttime is getting closer, but within an hour they’ll be at their destination. They haven’t been travelling all that long, only an hour and a half passing since they left home.

“I think we should pull over for food soon,” Glimmer suggests, earning an enthusiastic ‘yes!’ of agreement off Bow from the back. “Adora, is that all right with you?”

Adora nods her head, much less enthusiastic than Bow but happy at the thought of eating. “I’ll keep my eyes out for a diner.”

The trio end up eating at a McDonalds instead of a diner, and whilst Glimmer isn’t usually one for fast food, that isn’t the case today.

“Soooo, are you getting excited?” Bow asks, sat opposite his two best friends. “This is your first place away from home!”

“Technically it isn’t,” Adora points out, motioning to the Sargent badge sown onto her denim jacket.

Bow rolls his eyes, chewing a mouthful of food. “You know what I meant,” he insists. “It’s your first _apartment_ away from home.”

Adore shrugs in response. “I guess I’m excited. I don’t know,” she looks down at her frees, moving a few around with her finger.

“You should be excited!” Glimmer says, wrapping her arm around Adora’s shoulders. “It’s a brand new adventure! I loved it when I first moved out.”

At that, Adora snorts. “You were ready to move out by the time we were ten.”

“Remember that time you tried running away?” Bow laughs, Adora laughing along with him.

Glimmer glares at them both. “I just like my independence, okay?!” She asks in a slightly too fast, too high voice.

“We know you do,” Adora ensures, resting her head against Glimmer’s. “‘Miss Independent’, as mum would call you. We wouldn’t want you any other way.”

“Good, because I’m not going to be any other way.” Glimmer jokingly flips her hair, ignorant to the fact it’s too short to successfully flip over her shoulders.

They finish their meals and head back to the car, Bow taking a turn to drive.

“Since you’re driving, I get to put my CD on. Here, Adora put this in.”

Adora takes the CD from her sister and puts it in, turning it up to a reasonable volume. “Is this...”

“Michael Buble? Yes. It is.”

“Glimmer it’s only just turned autumn,” Adora groans.

“He has other albums besides his Christmas album!” Glimmer defends.

“This IS his Christmas album!”

“C’mon Adora, it’s not that bad,” Bow intervenes, turning the volume up a few notches. “Buble does have a good voice.”

Adora rolls her eyes at the two of them, but there’s no doubt there’s a spark of affection there.

They get to the apartment and unload the car in only two trips between them. All the furniture is already there, Adora having arranged and set up things on her own last week.

“This place is very...” Glimmer trails off, setting a box down on the floor. She looks at the pale colour scheme of the lounge and wooden floor. “... Humble.”

“It’s plain, I know,” Adora admits, sitting down in the arm chair. She scans the room and smiles. “But I like it... I think.”

“It’s nothing a touch of paint couldn’t fix!” Bow insists, stood with his hands on his hips as he too takes in the room. “The walls could be purple, put some carpet down...”

“No!” Adora says a too quickly, her cheeks filling red when Glimmer and Bow look at her. “I mean... I’d have to ask the landlord first. It’s not my business going round redecorating a place that I don’t have complete ownership of.”

“Well what does it say in your contract? I’m sure we can find a loophole or-“

“I’ll have to find it another time. Anyway,” Adora gets up quickly, “you guys are staying tonight, aren’t you?”

Glimmer, catching the anxious tone to her sister’s voice and seeing the way she’s playing with her fingers, nods. “Of course we are,” she smiles, purposely making her tone of voice merry. “We’ll watch a movie.”

“Great,” Adora replies, feeling a weight shift off her. “I saw a shop down the road, I’ll get us some popcorn.” She gets her bag and leaves the apartment before Glimmer or Bow can say anything.

She navigates her way to the shop with ease, picking up popcorn and two bags of m+m’s. Walking back into the apartment complex, she keeps her hood up and makes her way upstairs.

“Hey watch it!”

Adora stops in her tracks and looks up, finding a woman stood in front her. She too has her hood up, her arms folded over her chest. “Oh sorry I-“

“You nearly walked right into me,“ the woman hisses. “Do you not know that you’re meant to look where you’re going?”

Adora narrows her eyes. “Of course I do.  
Do you not know you shouldn’t be so rude?”

The woman rolls her eyes. “I’ll be rude to you if I want to be. I don’t owe strangers kindness.”

Adora opens her mouth to respond, but the woman’s already gone.

___

Although her bed is set up, Adora opts to sleep on the floor of the living room. Pillows and blankets on the floor, Adora’s laid between her two best friends. Glimmer to her left, Bow on the right. It’s comfy enough; she’s slept in much worse places than this. Yet all she can do is lay on her back and stare up at the ceiling, trying to get to sleep with the tips her therapist gave her. She’s going through the process when all of a sudden, there’s noise from outside her door.

“- all I’m saying is-“

“-I know exactly what you’re saying and I’m telling you no-“

“-But Catra-“

“-Don’t ‘but Catra’ me! You know I can’t-“

“-What if you have her just one more chance-“

“-The answer is no! Now just-“

Adora gets up from her space on the floor, knowing how to move and position herself so she doesn’t wake either her friends up. She tiptoes to the door and looks through the spy hole.

The woman she’d met in the hall (Catra?) is stood in the doorway of the apartment opposite, talking to another, much taller woman. Adora can hear them better now, but it doesn’t take long for them to get so heated and loud that Adora can’t keep up.

“What’re you doing?”

Adora jumps at the sudden voice behind her, glad to see it’s only Glimmer. Back against the door, she lays her hand over her heart.

Glimmer winces. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. Are you okay?”

“Fine. There’s two people having an argument in the hall. One of them is the woman I was telling you about earlier.”

“The cranky one?”

Adora nods, moving out the way so Glimmer can look through the spy hole.

“Seems heated,” Glimmer observes. She turns back to Adora, “I’m going to get a glass of water. Did we put the glasses in the kitchen?”

“They’re in one of the boxes. There’s a couple of bottles in the fridge though.” She watches as Glimmer walks away, then turns her attention back to the spy hole.

The taller woman walks away, leaving Catra stood on her own. Adora watches as Catra stands there, waiting until the other woman is completely gone. Then, she rubs her eyes and heads back into her apartment, slamming the door behind her.

Adora has no idea what she’s just witnessed, but she knows one thing for sure. Living here won’t be boring.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this, please let me know if you did or comment whatever you like, feedback is very motivating to me! <3


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